A. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to accessory management and data communication via an audio port on an electronic device.
B. Background of the Invention
Audio sockets have been commonly used in various electronic devices, such as computers, laptops, media players, smart phones, etc. to communicate with audio accessories having audio jacks. The mostly common used jack plugs have 2.5 mm, 3.5 mm or 6.35 mm (¼ inch) configurations with 2, 3 or 4 conductors (2P, 3P or 4P) for mono, stereo or stereo plus microphone compatibility. Stereo 3.5 mm jacks may be used for line in/out, headset out, loudspeaker out, microphone in, etc. Three-conductor connectors are common on older electronic devices, while 4-conductor 3.5 mm connectors are more commonly used on modern electronic devices, including most smart phones.
A 2-conductor jack is called TS connector with a tip and a sleeve for mono audio communication. A 3-conductor jack is called TRS connector with a tip, a ring and a sleeve for stereo audio communications. A 4-conductor jack is usually called TRRS connector with a tip, two rings and a sleeve for stereo plus microphone line communications. In certain circumstances, it is desirable to use a TRRS jack to transmit additional audio and/or data signal to host electronic devices.
Beyond receiving audio signal input from electronic device, some audio accessory, such as headset with active noise control (ANC) also need power input to operate its noise control circuit. Traditionally, the ANC headset is powered by separate battery, which causes bulky size for the headset and limited operation time.
Efforts have been done to explore further potential applications using audio jack connection. 5-conductor jack has been proposed and developed recently. However, it is very difficult to make those 5-conductor jacks backward compatible to most modern electronic devices. Additional cost will be needed for customer connector and hardware for 5-conductor jacks. Given the variety in the audio accessories of different characteristics and preferred settings, it would be desirable to provide improved accessory management and signal communication via 4P audio port with backward compatibility for supporting interactions between electronic devices and accessories.